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Wednesday, 12 November 2014

Thor #2 Review (Jason Aaron, Russell Dauterman)

I’m sure that following the bells and whistles of the last issue, some readers were a bit disappointed that the female Thor only got the briefest of cameos right at the end. Well, Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman make up the deficit in the second issue as the Goddess of Thunder takes centre stage!

Her identity still remains a mystery thanks to the mask but we get to know her voice now and she seems like a very down-to-earth human gal. She also seems pretty surprised to find herself dressed in Thor’s outfit and hefting Mjolnir on the moon so who knows what her backstory is. It seems though that anyone who can lift the hammer ends up talking like an Asgardian (all thou’s and thee’s) and intuitively knows all of Thor’s tricks! Swirling Mjolnir, Thor flies to Earth to find the Frost Giants, led by Malekith, the king of the Dark Elves, has frozen the Pacific Ocean, along with Asgard’s army and the Avengers, and literally built a stairway to heaven (can Thor get even more metal?) made of ice. But what are Malekith and the Jotunns after from the likes of Dario Agger, the CEO of Roxxon?

If there was anyone who doubted - and I’m sure there were none - that a female Thor could kick as much ass as the male Thor, this issue settles that once and for all. Female Thor is insanely tough, and she and Mjolnir smash their way through hordes of Frost Giants (and their attack dogs!) hurling lightning down as they unstoppably batter their way to Malekith.

Aaron’s writing is brilliant and breezy as always (“Oh, Hel yes!”) and I love that the Asgardian way she talks almost makes it feel like we’re hearing Mjolnir’s voice rather than her own - or maybe its her true voice, appearing at last? Either way, Aaron knows how to write Thor, whatever their junk, effortlessly at this point.

The star of this issue though is Russell Dauterman who gives Aaron’s action-packed script real energy. From that first panel where she’s holding the hammer and the lightning is crackling around her, to the ice-shattering power of Mjolnir as it hits the Jotunns full on, to the way her eyes glow with electricity and she commands it with the true authority of the God of Thunder; woman alive, is this a good-looking comic!

All of which is stuff regular readers of Thor will have seen a hundred times before, the only difference being its a female Thor this time around. What makes me more excited for the next issue though is the way it looks like we’re going to see the real person behind the Thor getup - in other words, something new rather than the kind of action we expect from a Thor comic.

Thor #2 is another fine issue in this delightful and re-energising series for the character. Jason Aaron brings the thunder and Russell Dauterman the lightning in a compelling mix of action and mystery.